The Academic Crisis is the name given to a Portuguese governmental policy instigated in 1962 by the Estado Novo entailing the boycott and closure of several student associations and organizations, including the National Secretariat of Portuguese Students. Most members of this organization were opposition militants, including many communists. PIDE-DGS investigated and persecuted a number of anti-Salazar student political activists jailed or transferred them to different universities to destabilize opposition organizations and networks.